French Chief slams Gasquet

[Moose Malloy]

I'm curious what sort of support Gasquet will get at the FO this year, the fans are tough on their players, hometown players don't automatically get the crowd behind them.



PARIS (Reuters) - French tennis federation president Christian Bimes criticized Richard Gasquet on Wednesday for refusing to face Andy Roddick in a 4-1 Davis Cup quarter-final defeat by the United States at the weekend.

“I’m disappointed about what happened this weekend in Winston-Salem,” Bimes told reporters.

“We’re considered as a nation capable of winning the Davis Cup and I see that for the past three years we have struggled to rely on our best players and they’re not always determined to win, which was our problem this weekend,” he said.

With France trailing 2-1, France number one Gasquet, the world number 10, who was undermined by a sore hand and a knee problem, refused to face Roddick in the tie’s third match.

Captain Guy Forget picked Paul-Henri Mathieu instead and he was brushed aside in straight sets.

“You have to make the players understand that they need to fight, to make sacrifices, even if they are undermined by an injury,” Bimes said.

Bimes said Gasquet, who was left out of Friday’s opening singles, had promised him and Forget that they could rely on him on the Sunday if needed.

“Guy Forget did what he could but next time, we’ll have to thump the table to make ourselves clear,” Bimes said.

A gifted player, Gasquet has often been criticized for lacking character.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=reu-davisfrancedc&prov=reuters&type=lgns

 

[Fee]

If Gasquet had played that match and lost 2, 2, and 2, Forget would have been slammed for putting an unhealthy player in such an important slot. They were probably screwed no matter what they did considering the choices they had available to them.

 

[flash9]

No-Win

I misread your Title as:

French Chef slams Gasquet LOL

I agree with Fee, Forget was in a nearly no-win situation!

 

[GRANITECHIEF]

I still don't get why Gasquet could play the second match but not the first. If he was healthy enough for the second, why not the first. Especially after having won his last match against Roddick, and PHM still being a little fatigued ,mentally and physically, from his gruelling loss to Blake.

I'm with the French chef, he was just being a wuss.

 

[Klatu Verata Necktie]

I still don't get why Gasquet could play the second match but not the first. If he was healthy enough for the second, why not the first. Especially after having won his last match against Roddick, and PHM still being a little fatigued ,mentally and physically, from his gruelling loss to Blake.

I'm with the French chef, he was just being a wuss.

The 5th match is best of 3 rather than best of 5 sets. Maybe Gasquet wanted to avoid being in a long battle on account of his "injury". He could try to defend himself by saying that he would have played the tiebreaker had Mathieu won his match.

 

[GRANITECHIEF]

Yeah, he did say that he would play the match if it was live. So the 2 outta 3 thing shouldn't really be an excuse.

BTW, my boy wants a rematch.

 

[Klatu Verata Necktie]

BTW, my boy wants a rematch.

I was lucky to escape with a victory. I don't think I'll be so lucky twice Hows the boy? Is he still playing tournaments?

 

[Morrissey]

If Gasquet had played that match and lost 2, 2, and 2, Forget would have been slammed for putting an unhealthy player in such an important slot. They were probably screwed no matter what they did considering the choices they had available to them.

Well then you know what? He should've stayed home like Tsonga did if he was so injured. He still played a dead rubber and I'm sure he'll be fine for Monte Carlo next week. He bailed because it was a fast court and he was gonna play Roddick. Simple as that. Injured my ass. Then don't show up if you can't play. This is the same guy who bailed out of a match at the US Open with Donald Young because he had a sore throat. Please. Stop wasting the team's time. More dedicated and focused players are willing to take his place. He deserved to get slammed for that wussy display.

 

[flyer]

Well then you know what? He should've stayed home like Tsonga did if he was so injured. He still played a dead rubber and I'm sure he'll be fine for Monte Carlo next week. He bailed because it was a fast court and he was gonna play Roddick. Simple as that. Injured my ass. Then don't show up if you can't play. This is the same guy who bailed out of a match at the US Open with Donald Young because he had a sore throat. Please. Stop wasting the team's time. More dedicated and focused players are willing to take his place. He deserved to get slammed for that wussy display.

Yeah I agree with you mostly, Wimby is fast though and we all remember that match, he is def a huge girl though. Question for ya Morrissey would you mind disclosing where you are from/where you live?

 

[lambielspins]

Well then you know what? He should've stayed home like Tsonga did if he was so injured. He still played a dead rubber and I'm sure he'll be fine for Monte Carlo next week. He bailed because it was a fast court and he was gonna play Roddick. Simple as that. Injured my ass. Then don't show up if you can't play. This is the same guy who bailed out of a match at the US Open with Donald Young because he had a sore throat. Please. Stop wasting the team's time. More dedicated and focused players are willing to take his place. He deserved to get slammed for that wussy display.

Totally agree. The guy was just looking for another out of a potentialy challenging situation. What kind of a future star who is already in his early 20s bails out of playing Young at the U.S Open to boot, LOL! Overhyped with a capital O, a huge mental woose.

 

[GRANITECHIEF]

I was lucky to escape with a victory. I don't think I'll be so lucky twice Hows the boy? Is he still playing tournaments?

I thought you escaped with split sets? And yeah, luck will probably run out cuz he's training very hard, and is bigger, more powerful, and more consistent now. He won a fairly big SoCal tourney recently without losing more than 4 games in a set.

And if the coach had asked him to go out there to try to get a point in Davis Cup, he would have, even if he thought he might get beat.

 

[bluetrain4]

I remember reading some quotes by Zina Garrison during her career about injuries. She basically said that nagging injuries are a fact of life on the tennis tour - sore shoulder, stiff back, inflamed knee, aching wrist, and on and on. This is to be expected due to the overuse of the body and the pounding on the courts.

She was careful to point out that there are, obviously, legitimate, serious injuries that would prevent a player from playing. But, I'm guessing she would not have felt that sorry for Gasquet and his sore hand.

 

[0range]

Having charactor means still put up a good fight, playing for you team, for you country, even when the chance of winning is zero to nil.

 

[stormholloway]

I thought his problem was blisters. And if he was so hurt why did he play a dead rubber?

 

[flyer]

still if hes the french number one and Forget thinks he gives them the best chance to win and calls on him he is the one that the victory should go through even if it means getting wiped off the court

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

It's tough to make judgments when the guys clearly not 100%. What if he did play and simply made his injury worse? It sounds like a lose-lose situation to me.

I WAS looking forward to watching him play though, it's a absolute travesty that he and Tsonga couldn't make it.

 

[MichaelChang]

Forget should forget it.

 

[BreakPoint]

I guess Gasquet and Djokovic now have something in common.

 

[JRstriker12]

It's tough to make judgments when the guys clearly not 100%. What if he did play and simply made his injury worse? It sounds like a lose-lose situation to me.

I WAS looking forward to watching him play though, it's a absolute travesty that he and Tsonga couldn't make it.

Not 100%? - we're talking about blisters here. If he could have played the meaningless rubber against Blake, he could have tried against Roddick.

On the flip side of that, what if Roddick lost and it was on the line in the Blake match? would he have ducked that too? There's really no excuse for him the bail on the Roddick rubber if even his coach and Federation wanted him to play. Gasquet has no heart.

 

[Eviscerator]

Well then you know what? He should've stayed home like Tsonga did if he was so injured. He still played a dead rubber and I'm sure he'll be fine for Monte Carlo next week. He bailed because it was a fast court and he was gonna play Roddick. Simple as that. Injured my ass. Then don't show up if you can't play. This is the same guy who bailed out of a match at the US Open with Donald Young because he had a sore throat. Please. Stop wasting the team's time. More dedicated and focused players are willing to take his place. He deserved to get slammed for that wussy display.

Agreed

Despite his talent he seems to lack heart for this latest fiasco, not to mention the slam withdrawal.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Pragmatic act or wimpy calculation? Given the questions posed by the French media afterwards, it seems clear that the judgment in Gasquet's native country will be somewhat harsh. His own teammates were puzzled, to say the least. After Roddick blew Mathieu off the court, Mathieu was asked if he felt he'd had a choice about playing. The emotional 26-year-old paused for an unusually long time before answering. "No," he said. "I felt that Guy had confidence in me. Apparently, Guy didn't have a choice."

Mathieu appeared taken aback when reporters told him that Gasquet had turned down the Roddick match but offered himself up for the later match. He shrugged incredulously. "He makes his decisions, and I make mine,'' Mathieu said. "I would have liked him to come to me and say why. It was as if I was tired, so I got sent to the slaughterhouse and he didn't.

"I hope he'll come see me and explain. If he had valid reasons, then there's no problem."

Roddick didn't have much to say about Gasquet's virtual default. "I'm not going to sit here and pretend to know the ins and outs of the French locker room," he said. "I mean, I guess it would seem logical that if you're healthy enough to play a fifth match, then you're healthy enough to play a match two hours earlier."

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/news/story?id=3346037

 

[stormholloway]

Gasquet has talent, but no balls.

Rios all over again.

 

[fastdunn]

Gasquet does not know what it takes to win.

Federer actually had enormous pain at early rounds of Wimbledon 2003 he won 1st time. Before the start of 2nd(or 3rd?) round, he couldn't move. He couldn't even sit down. But he still decided to give it a shot. Pain subdued as matches went and he somehow won it.

That was the defining moment of a true champion. And it continues since then. The way he played this year's AO with mono. The way he is plugging away current troubled times, it's all mark of champion.

Gasquet doesn't have it,... yet. Some people thought Gasquet finally grew up when he played thru leg cramps for 5 sets(?) against Hewitt 2006(?) US Open.
He apparently has not.

 

[Moose Malloy]

Federer actually had enormous pain at early rounds of Wimbledon 2003 he won 1st time.

Yeah I think he was thinking of defaulting after hurting his back in a 4th Round match, but the pain got better as the tournament went on.
Sampras also had a shoulder issue when he won Wimbledon for the 1st time(& of course the ankle problem that he played through in winning his last title there)
And Agassi won the '99 FO with a bum shoulder as well. Pretty much every great champion pushes themselves quite a bit. as bluetrain said pros are almost never 100%, you can't just default when you don't feel well.

Considering the brutal format of slams, best of 5, over 2 weeks, I wonder if Gasquet can ever win one, he seems so fragile.

 

[Fedace]

French people,,,not exactly known thruout history to be a fighting type

 

[flyer]

French people,,,not exactly known thruout history to be a fighting type

are you american?

 

[Fedace]

are you american?

Yes of course...

 

[simi]

The 5th match is best of 3 rather than best of 5 sets.

Only if it is a dead rubber. If the tie score was 2-2, it would have been a full five-set match.

 

[Klatu Verata Necktie]

Only if it is a dead rubber. If the tie score was 2-2, it would have been a full five-set match.

Did not know that. In that case, there is no excuse for Gasquet! A five set match to break a tie between the US and France would have been tremendously exciting. Oh well.

 

[zagor]

Gasquet does not know what it takes to win.

Federer actually had enormous pain at early rounds of Wimbledon 2003 he won 1st time. Before the start of 2nd(or 3rd?) round, he couldn't move. He couldn't even sit down. But he still decided to give it a shot. Pain subdued as matches went and he somehow won it.

That was the defining moment of a true champion. And it continues since then. The way he played this year's AO with mono. The way he is plugging away current troubled times, it's all mark of champion.

Gasquet doesn't have it,... yet. Some people thought Gasquet finally grew up when he played thru leg cramps for 5 sets(?) against Hewitt 2006(?) US Open.
He apparently has not.

Yes,Roger almost retired against Lopez in 4th round because of the back injury but somehow he got through it.As for Gasquet I have been expecting his breaktrough since I saw him display his talent when he beat Federer in Monte Carlo 2005,I thought he would be top 5 by this time.He did show some fight when he turned a match against Roddick in Wimbledon last year so maybe he'll mature more in the next few years and become a bigger threat at the slams,we'll see.

 

[Vision84]

Yeah I think he was thinking of defaulting after hurting his back in a 4th Round match, but the pain got better as the tournament went on.
Sampras also had a shoulder issue when he won Wimbledon for the 1st time(& of course the ankle problem that he played through in winning his last title there)
And Agassi won the '99 FO with a bum shoulder as well. Pretty much every great champion pushes themselves quite a bit. as bluetrain said pros are almost never 100%, you can't just default when you don't feel well.

Considering the brutal format of slams, best of 5, over 2 weeks, I wonder if Gasquet can ever win one, he seems so fragile.

One of the greatest efforts of heart I have seen is from Sampras against corretja at the USopen in '96. Another one is when he was playing against Courier after his coach died and he was crieing through the match.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=thBlpkJP9GY

 

[pow]

If Gasquet had played that match and lost 2, 2, and 2, Forget would have been slammed for putting an unhealthy player in such an important slot. They were probably screwed no matter what they did considering the choices they had available to them.

Completely agree, if Gasquet says he's injured, it's a lose-lose situation for France.

 

[quest01]

I agree with the French Chief on this one. Gasquet was healthy or he wouldn't have played 2 hours later against Blake in which he took a set from him and played well. I think we can come to a conclusion that Gasquet was simply scared of playing Roddick when it really mattered. It's obvious Gasquet has been playing poorly so far this year and realizes this surface favors Roddick so he came to his senses and chickened out.

 

[Klatu Verata Necktie]

I thought you escaped with split sets? And yeah, luck will probably run out cuz he's training very hard, and is bigger, more powerful, and more consistent now. He won a fairly big SoCal tourney recently without losing more than 4 games in a set.

And if the coach had asked him to go out there to try to get a point in Davis Cup, he would have, even if he thought he might get beat.

Congratulate your son for me, and let me know when you're in town again for a tournament. It would be fun to get together for a hit.

 

[eric892]

How come Tsonga didn't play?

 

[Vlad]

He should have not even shown up there like Nadal missed out last year. Who could blame Nadal even though his team got killed? He was probably already practicing at Monte Carlo courts or better yet hanging out on a beach in Mallorca while his teammates Robredo and Verdasco were getting crushed. Gasquet was there with his team injured or not. And he is getting killed in the press. Life is funny sometimes.

 

[JRstriker12]

How come Tsonga didn't play?

Injured knee - search the boards - there has been much discussion on this topic.

 

[Morrissey]

He should have not even shown up there like Nadal missed out last year. Who could blame Nadal even though his team got killed? He was probably already practicing at Monte Carlo courts or better yet hanging out on a beach in Mallorca while his teammates Robredo and Verdasco were getting crushed. Gasquet was there with his team injured or not. And he is getting killed in the press. Life is funny sometimes.

Difference is, Nadal has the Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Roma & FO titles to defend his points and his chasing the #1 ranking. Gasquet does not have to do those things. Plus, Gasquet showed up to play, saw the courts were fast and Roddick was playing well. Avoided playing with a ¨injury excuse¨ and then decides to play a dead rubber. That´s what killed him. He would´ve been better off not even playing, why show up to play a dead rubber when you´re the French #1 player? Tsonga did the right thing, he stayed home because he was injured and wasn´t going to be a factor. Gasquet says he´s injured and then decides to play anyway, oh but he decided to play dead rubber instead of the meaningful match with Roddick. That´s why he´s getting ripped in here and by the French media.

 

[stormholloway]

French people,,,not exactly known thruout history to be a fighting type

Yeah, they're only one of the most historically imperialistic nations on the planet.

 

[flyer]

Yes of course...

ok, well if it wasn't for the french and their "fighting type" you wouldn't even be a country

 

[coloskier]

ok, well if it wasn't for the french and their "fighting type" you wouldn't even be a country

That is very true. We would have never won the Revolutionary War without French help. But what has happened to the French since then? I can understand how they get mad when we push the old WWII thing at them about how they would all be speaking German right now if it weren't for the Americans. But, unfortunately, the statement is true.

 

[shwetty[tennis]balls]

The French have no idea what patriotism is. They are the most dramatic people on the planet. There are always ****-talking problems on the women's team. Now they're not happy with one of their best (even though Gasquet does have a mediocre attitude). I never get the idea that they are ever really unified.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

Not 100%? - we're talking about blisters here. If he could have played the meaningless rubber against Blake, he could have tried against Roddick.

On the flip side of that, what if Roddick lost and it was on the line in the Blake match? would he have ducked that too? There's really no excuse for him the bail on the Roddick rubber if even his coach and Federation wanted him to play. Gasquet has no heart.

Is your name Richard Gasquet? You just don't know that. I'm no pro, but the French Open seems like a top priority to me.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

Well then you know what? He should've stayed home like Tsonga did if he was so injured. He still played a dead rubber and I'm sure he'll be fine for Monte Carlo next week. He bailed because it was a fast court and he was gonna play Roddick. Simple as that. Injured my ass. Then don't show up if you can't play. This is the same guy who bailed out of a match at the US Open with Donald Young because he had a sore throat. Please. Stop wasting the team's time. More dedicated and focused players are willing to take his place. He deserved to get slammed for that wussy display.

It's funny, I didn't see your name in the draw anywhere.

I wouldn't exactly pick Donald Young as a shining example of someone's heart on the tennis court.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

One of the greatest efforts of heart I have seen is from Sampras against corretja at the USopen in '96. Another one is when he was playing against Courier after his coach died and he was crieing through the match.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=thBlpkJP9GY

Tennis Channel shows that match against Courier sometimes, excellent stuff!

About halfway through the commentator remarks about Sampras' "unbelievable pain", get a clue!

 

[stormholloway]

Is your name Richard Gasquet? You just don't know that. I'm no pro, but the French Open seems like a top priority to me.

Then why did he play a dead rubber!? Why play a meaningless match rather than a meaningful one?

 

[JRstriker12]

Is your name Richard Gasquet? You just don't know that. I'm no pro, but the French Open seems like a top priority to me.

Well is your name Christian Bimes or Guy Forget?

Well if the French Open was such a priority, why did he play at all? If he was too hurt, he should have stayed home.

Gasquet has no heart. He refused to play a match that could have been the difference in the French team's result and decided to play a meaningless rubber.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

Then why did he play a dead rubber!? Why play a meaningless match rather than a meaningful one?

Maybe your right, I don't know, my interest in the whole match up faded away with Tsonga out.

I certainly wouldn't say too much about the French players with some people basing their trust on Donald Young here.

 

[Morrissey]

It's funny, I didn't see your name in the draw anywhere.

I wouldn't exactly pick Donald Young as a shining example of someone's heart on the tennis court.

Funny is your name Christian Bimes or Guy Forget? No? Then they also happen to not be on the draw list either but they have an awful lot to say about Gasquet's pathetic display of courage this weekend.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

Funny is your name Christian Bimes or Guy Forget? No? Then they also happen to not be on the draw list either but they have an awful lot to say about Gasquet's pathetic display of courage this weekend.

And just what happened to Donald Young after the Gasket walkover at the USO?